Editorial: Lest we forget

Leading members of the ruling NDC government should spend their time to find out why their youths are resorting to acts of lawlessness all over the country instead of making inflammatory comments that would dampen their spirit and eventually result in the party losing political power in the 2012 general elections.

This is the opinion of the Daily Post and several well meaning members of the NDC the paper spoke with, cognisant of the fact that many of these foot soldiers sacrificed their lives and limbs to ensure the NDC's victory in the 2008 elections. A leading figure in the ruling party, who would not like his identity to be revealed, said the acts of lawlessness by the youths must serve as a harbinger for the NDC to sit up, instead of party top guns making statements that will add insult to injury.

Daily Post's own investigations and interaction with the foot soldiers indicate that their agitations stem from the fact that they feel used and abandoned by the party.

“Our leaders promised us so many things. As a result, we risked our lives to ensure that the party wins the elections. But after we won the election, while they have got what they wanted, they tell us that we should exercise patience,” Sammy, a foot soldier who resides at Odorkor told the Daily Post.

Shaibu, another foot soldier, who lives in Ashaiman told this paper that prior to the 2008 elections, some leaders of the NDC promised to return to them the operation of the public toilets at Ashaiman. But after the elections, they have not seen any of the big men.

He said the big men would either not pick their calls or had changed their phone lines.

Foot soldiers at the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa constituency told the Daily Post that even though the NPP won the seat, they went the extra mile to ensure that Mills wins the presidency.

Recently, they petitioned the District Chief Executive several times over some malpractices and corruption in the National Health Insurance Scheme.

They were of the view that a simple office routine work for their petition to be acknowledged which was not done, actually represented official disrespect for the toil they put in to ensure that Professor Mills beat Nana Akufo-Addo to it in the 2008 polls.

They also recalled the promised jobs which were not forthcoming thus their decision to seize the NHIS office, lock it up and hand over the keys to the police commander in the area until the petition was dealt with. The leaders of the youths were arrested but have been granted bail, a development causing much panic and anger in the constituency.

The Daily Post investigations reveal that it is not only the unfulfilled promises that are making the NDC foot soldiers angry but also the fact that NPP appointed managers of the NHIS, NYEP and other bodies who government should have replaced are denying NDC supporters jobs in favour of NPP ones.

What is even irking the irate foot soldiers the more is the response to their agitation by some key members of the NDC and the government.

“They are talking as if we are fools. They are claiming that we are being organised by some people inside the NDC to demonstrate. Were we organised when we stormed Radio Gold to protect it from invasion by the NPP government? Were we organised when we stormed the EC's offices to prevent the election results from being altered? Now that we are fighting for our own, they say we are being organised. So, we cannot think for ourselves?” Agbenoxevi, a foot soldier in Accra Newtown asked.

Many of the foot soldiers narrated the harrowing experiences they went through. While some of them received cutlass wounds from NPP thugs bent on rigging the elections, others had their heads nearly split into two while one in Kumasi almost had his two wrists slashed off (pictured on the front page).

A foot soldier in Kumasi, Daily Post found out, was beaten till he collapsed. He later drifted into coma and came round only after two weeks only to find that he was blind (also pictured on the front page). For the foot soldiers, therefore, the comments by NDC leaders, whose actions and inactions have resulted in these agitations, is tantamount to adding insult to injury.

“Let them continue with their attacks on us. 2012 is not very far away. We shall see if they would have the courage to call on us to do another dirty work for them as we did in the 2008 elections,” an irate Amartei Rosemond threatened.